Local high school students receive patent for Lego project

While some students may dread their daily homework, a small group of students are glad to be back to normal after years of working on securing a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

While some students may dread their daily homework, a small group of students are glad to be back to normal after years of working on securing a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

A group of six Ames and Gilbert high school students, called the Flying Monkeys, have developed a product to assist users with underdeveloped hands. The product, "Bob-1," recently received approval for a national utility patent.

The team is made up of Ames High School sophomores Mackenzie Grewell, Zoe Groat, Maria Werner Anderson and Gaby Dempsey, Ames High junior Kate Murray and Gilbert High School sophomore Courtney Pohlan.

The girls first created the product in sixth grade as part of the FIRST Lego League competition. Teams in the competition are required to create a robot design, but another portion of the competition is focused on creating an innovative solution to a real-world problem. The year’s theme was "Body Forward," which asked teams to improve, repair or heal the human body.

Murray said the team researched topics like Cystic Fibrosis, but decided they did not know enough about the subject. It was then that the team chose to focus on limb differences. Murray is missing a portion of her left hand, and said she uses a few assistive items.

"I did know about limb differences, and we figured out that would be a way to go," she said.

The team began asking research questions on online forums and eventually found Danielle, a 4-year-old living in Georgia, who was missing a majority of her right hand. Murray said Danielle was right hand dominant, and the team designed the "Bob-1" product so she could hold a pencil in her right hand.

The girls started with a variety of design ideas, ranging from models that used a claw or tongs to a glove-like design. When none of those worked, the team turned to one of Murray’s items: a mount which could hold the bow to Murray’s violin.

"We kind of took that idea and interviewed some occupational therapists to see what they do," Murray said.

The "Bob-1" design now includes a platform capable of holding items like a pencil, with straps to securte the platform to the user’s hand.

The project has earned them several awards, including an Excellence in Innovation state-level award and the first-ever Global Innovation Award, and the group has made appearances in California, Washington D.C., and Brazil to display its work. The team also returned to the start of "Bob-1" this weekend, appearing at the Iowa FIRST Lego League’s Meet the Experts Expo on the Iowa State University campus.

In 2012, the team decided to move forward with the utility patent application process. After years of revisiting, rewriting and waiting, the team recently received their approval notice.

Team members Werner Anderson and Pohlan agreed the approval takes away plenty of stress the team has been carrying.

"A bunch of weight has lifted," Werner Anderson said. "We don’t have to worry about it."

The team agreed they now plan on celebrating and returning to focus on high school and the upcoming work of getting into college. But as they take a break from "Bob-1," there are still a few lessons each of them will take away from the experience.

"Always keep trying," Pohlan said. "Because if you do something once, it’s not going to be perfect."